1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to automatic image correction of a moving image.
2. Description of the Related Art
Along with the prevalence of digital cameras, opportunities for end users to handle color images have increased. However, end users are not always expert at using a digital camera. For example, results captured by a digital camera are not always satisfactory. Of course, it is possible to check a captured image using a liquid crystal display attached to a digital camera immediately after capturing and, when a user notices that the capturing has failed, he or she can capture the image again. However, a user may not check the image, or he or she may not be able to check the image because the digital camera does not have a display. Moreover, if one misses a good shutter opportunity, it may never come again.
Automatic or semiautomatic correction methods for correcting a captured image with an unsatisfactory capture result have been proposed. For example, all pixels or sampled pixels in a captured image are checked, the feature amount of the captured image is calculated, and whether the captured image is satisfactory or not is determined based on the feature amount. For the captured image determined to be unsatisfactory (under exposure, over exposure, with color cast, or the like), each pixel value of the captured image is converted in accordance with the feature amount, thereby obtaining a more satisfactory image.
Generally, a still image automatic correction process technique is designed to obtain appropriate brightness by, e.g., correcting a dark image to be brighter and suppressing the brightness of an overexposed image. This automatic correction process technique can be applied not only to still images but also to moving images.
On the other hand, for moving images, effects such as fade-in and fade-out are known wherein the brightness of an image is changed along the time axis. When the above-described still image auto correction process technique is applied to a moving image which includes special effects such as fade-in and fade-out, the process for obtaining appropriate brightness impairs the special effects such as fade-in and fade-out.